Nigerian chess master, Tunde Onakoya and his United States counterpart, Shawn Martinez, are both trying to beat the Guinness World Record for the longest continuous chess game.
The challengeThe ongoing attempt, which has surpassed 23 hours, is taking place at New York City’s famous Times Square and is set to finish on April 19.
In a statement on Thursday, Onakoya’s foundation, Chess in Slums Africa, a non-profit organization focused on promoting chess education for underprivileged children, revealed this.
The statement entitled “Chess in Slums Africa: Clarification and Updates on Tunde Onakoya’s Guinness World Record Attempt” outlined the rules of the challenge set by Guinness World Records.
It mentioned, “This record attempt needs a team of two players. Tunde Onakoya (NG) will be competing against Shawn Martinez (US) for the challenge. Both players are National Masters.
Shawn Martinez, a US National Master, renowned New York City chess legend, and chess coach, stands as a strong opponent. Both Tunde Onakoya and Shawn Martinez will claim the record title.”
It also stated that the record is for the longest continuous game of chess, with both players competing against each other for the same duration.
It further stated, “This record is for the longest continuous game of chess and must be expressed in hours, minutes, and seconds. It should be attempted by a team of two players.
“Each player must compete against each other for the same duration. The attempt must occur in a public place open to public inspection. A rest of five minutes is allowed for every complete hour of activity (these can be accumulated).”
The statement reaffirmed that Onakoya’s objective is to engage in uninterrupted play for 58 hours against his opponent, Martinez, with the aim of raising $1,000,000 to support more children across Africa.
It added, “The aim is to raise $1,000,000 to support more children across Africa through our work @chessinslumsafrica and @thegiftofchess.
“Recognized donation platforms for official information: @chessinslumsafrica (IG, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn), @thegiftofchess (IG, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn), @tunde_OD (Twitter), @tunde_onakoya (IG).”
Onakoya’s manager, known as Taiwo with the X handle “OgaBoxx,” had previously disclosed that he (Onakoya) is playing two sets of games simultaneously, and opponents in the second set are random players.
He also mentioned that only the match against Shawn Martinez is considered valid for the record; hence, “both players must play through to the end and share the record.”
According to the Guinness World Records, the longest chess marathon lasted 56 hours, 09 minutes, and 37 seconds and was achieved by Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad from Norway on November 11, 2018.
